We develop comprehensive plans that incorporate the legal, financial, and health care needs of our clients.
Life can change in an instant. But planning in advance of a potential health or financial crisis can make all the difference. You may not know exactly what events may lead to difficulty for you and your family in the future, but if you take the time now, you can have a plan that anticipates most of the major causes that lead to crisis. Our skilled team meets with clients to develop a plan customized for you and your unique legal, financial, health, and care concerns. By planning ahead, you could save hundreds of thousands of dollars, avoid family fighting, minimize caregiver burden, save on taxes, and more! The time to create your unique, comprehensive plan is now. Our team can help you anticipate what you need and implement a plan to protect you and your family.
Planning ahead can prevent sticky situations from becoming a disaster. If you wait too long, someone else may control what happens to you and your finances. Plan early and prevent avoidable problems.
It may start with a gut feeling. That’s how humans work. Our gut instincts have kept us from being eaten by bears, being bit by snakes, and from eating spoiled food that would make us very ill. If your gut is telling you that a situation in your life may be a problem, you are likely right about it. The good news is that you can usually plan to prevent some or all of the issues you are anticipating.
Our consultation process is designed to address potential issues so that they don’t become big problems later. These issues can range from family members who don’t get along, leaving certain people out of your planning, protecting assets from family members, and more.
If you want the security and peace of mind to know that you’ve done everything you can to ensure an orderly and straightforward plan, look no further. Comprehensive planning addresses the hot button topics and seeks to eliminate conflict or potential conflict. Planning ahead and preventing conflict can save lots of time and money down the road.
Most estate planning doesn’t prevent the situation you’re worried about, and here’s why:
They are just legal documents. There is no corresponding plan. If you don’t know how your legal documents are supposed to work and how they will protect you, you likely don’t have the most important part: your plan. The plan is what gets implemented to protect you down the road.
If you do have a plan and know how it will work, there’s a good chance it’s not properly funded. A funded plan means that all of your assets (real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, brokerage accounts, life insurance, etc.) are titled in your trust and can be properly managed by your successor trustee for your benefit when you need it. A funded trust avoids many sticky situations and can prevent conflict and court battles later.
All of our planning clients receive:
A thorough review of options for planning and asset protection and how it affects your particular circumstances.
A detailed asset titling instruction sheet that you can use to ensure everything is done right.
One year of support included. If you have questions after you sign, acquire new assets, want to change something in your documents, we’ve got you covered, at NO additional charge.
Common Questions
What is the difference between a will and a trust? What do I need?
Whether you have no will or have a super-complex will, any asset you have at your death that passes through your will has to be probated through the Probate Court. The Probate process varies by county, but generally takes about a year, allows anyone who says you owed them money to make a creditor claim against your assets, and takes your private financial and family information and makes it public record. A trust, on the other hand, is a private way to pass your assets to your loved ones without interference by the government in how that happens. You get to choose who makes distributions, how they make those distributions, and it can all be done privately, while minimizing costs and potential litigation.
What is the cost for a will?
One thing we always explain is the critical need for a comprehensive estate plan. A will is only used after you pass away. It does you no good while you are living. A comprehensive plan that combines health care directives, a HIPAA for health care access, a robust financial power of attorney, beneficiary designations, a “just in case” will, and some form of a trust will normally achieve your estate planning objectives while minimizing costs. Our comprehensive estate plans start at $3,000 for one person and $3,500 for a couple. Our asset protection trusts can be added to an estate plan to preserve and protect assets if long term care is needed in the future. Asset protection trust planning starts at $5,000.
Are there cheaper options?
Of course there are cheaper options. Our philosophy is that you get what you pay for and plan for. We all know this to be true. If you are driving in a rain storm and the car just ahead of you slams on the brakes, it’s too late to go and get better tires. It works the same way with estate planning and asset protection. By the time you really need these documents and this plan, it is too late to get the better option. By putting your plan together now, you can ensure that mistakes, poor drafting, improper witnessing, lack of funding, missed assets, and financial exposure can be avoided.
This is overwhelming. Is there an easier option?
If you want to plan ahead and you know it’s what’s best for you, but you just can’t seem to get everything together, we can help. We offer a simplified planning solution that does not require you to do quite so much, but still achieves your goal. Click HERE for our simplified option! I want info on a simplied planning option.
Lisa Hostetler Brown, CELA* Certified Elder Law Attorney, Certified by the National Elder Law Foundation
Lane Cook, CFP* Certified Financial Planner, conferred by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards
Pursuant to SC Ethics Advisory Opinion 17-02: Click on the hyperlinks on the bios on the Our Team page to see information about each designation or accolade, dates of designations, publication or entity, and standards for inclusion. No payment was required for designation or inclusion in listings.
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